


Like a Vampire (Up from the Graveyard)

by Actual_Dunwich_Horror



Category: Men's Hockey RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe - Vampire, But also, Canon-Typical Violence, Fluff, Getting Together, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Twilight References, Vampire!Ryan Graves, duchene is evil i'm sorry, vampire jokes!!!
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-28
Updated: 2019-10-28
Packaged: 2021-01-02 17:29:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 9,202
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21165416
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Actual_Dunwich_Horror/pseuds/Actual_Dunwich_Horror
Summary: Ryan Graves is a vampire.It’s really not that complicated. He hasn’t told anyone on the team, and he doesn’t feel like he has to. He lives life pretty much the same as the rest of them, just. He has to drink blood from time to time to keep himself healthy. That’s the big difference.Eventually, though, someone finds out and uses it against him.





	Like a Vampire (Up from the Graveyard)

**Author's Note:**

  * For [josthockeythings](https://archiveofourown.org/users/josthockeythings/gifts).
  * In response to a prompt by Anonymous in the [HockeyHalloween2019](https://archiveofourown.org/collections/HockeyHalloween2019) collection. 

> If you or someone you know is mentioned in this fic, please turn away. This is entirely fiction.
> 
> **Prompt:**
> 
> It has been joked about in locker room before. Gravy knows this. His name. His height. How pale he is. The vampire jokes are almost doomed to never stop. But for some reason, this time, they hit a little different. He needs to tell someone his secret. It seems his only choice for confidant is Barbs. They're closer now that they were forced together for the Match Up Game. He only hopes that he can trust him with the truth.
> 
> (Vampire!Gravy and Human!Barbs. Canon compliant. The tags wouldn't allow me to add this pair since it's a rarepair.)
> 
> Well, here we have it! I had so much fun writing this fic. The vampires in this fic are my own personal take on modern-day vamps, so I apologize if something is weird or doesn't make sense. Title is from Beautiful Times by Owl City (which, that whole song goes along with this fic perfectly!) Thanks to Eafay, Leo, and TJ for looking this over, and to josthockeythings for the wonderful prompt!

So, Ryan’s a vampire.

It’s really not that complicated. He hasn’t told anyone on the team, and he doesn’t feel like he has to. He lives life pretty much the same as the rest of them, just. He has to drink blood from time to time to keep himself healthy. That’s the big difference.

Sure there are little differences too, but he can cover those up pretty well. Like, how he supposedly has a really bad garlic allergy (which, technically he does) and how he sunburns a little easier than most due to his pale skin.

Otherwise, Ryan goes about his business like every other twenty four year old NHL player.

In the locker room, though… sometimes he feels like everyone can see right through him. The vampire and goth jokes are endless (the Clark Kent ones aren’t, which is honestly kinda sad) but he does his best to not take them too seriously. He  _ knows  _ he looks like a stereotypical vampire, but that’s thanks to his genetics. Not all vampires have black hair and pale skin. Ryan’s just… a bit unlucky on that end.

So, when Josty skates past him and jokes about how his black practice jersey makes him look like Dracula on skates, he really shouldn’t be bothered by it. It should be funny and ironic. Yet, he’s starting to get a little tired of it all, but he doesn’t want to say anything about it out of fear of having someone find out.

And maybe Ryan freaks out just a little bit when he finds whole heads of garlic right outside the front door of his apartment. He figures that maybe one of the guys managed to sneak over before he got to his apartment complex, but… still. It’s a little freaky and he would rather not have an allergic reaction, so he brushes them to the side with his foot and heads inside.

Once he’s showered and changed into more comfortable clothes, he opens up the team’s group chat and sends,

_ Haha guys, very funny _

He expects  _ someone _ to understand what he’s talking about, but all he receives are a bunch of confused messages in return, which... definitely isn’t comforting.

_ It was probably nothing, _ Ryan thinks to himself.  _ Someone probably dropped them in the hall or something. That’s it. _

And he exits his messaging app, immediately opening his app to check his horoscope.

//

Ryan forgets about the whole garlic ordeal for the most part. That is, until a few days later when he’s leaving his apartment for gameday when he notices a small white rosary lying on the floor, exactly where the garlic had been.

Whatever anxious feeling Ryan had had before is officially amped up to a thousand. Vampires aren’t like, hurt by crosses or anything of the sort, but they typically feel uneasy around holy or blessed objects. It’s unlike anything Ryan’s ever felt, and the sight of the small cross and beads  _ right in front of him _ makes him feel so scared that he might throw up. 

Trembling, he speeds down the hallway without looking back.

By the time he gets to the rink, Ryan has mostly calmed down, but he feels like he’s pouring sweat and he hasn’t even gotten his gear on.

His hands are still somewhat shaky when he goes to tie his skates, and it takes him a few tries to get his jersey on. It’s frustrating, really, because Ryan knows he’s clumsy but he’s not  _ that  _ clumsy. It’s just. He’s still a little shaken.

He must be a bit obvious, because he’s adjusting his chest protector underneath his jersey when Mark comes up and nudges him. Ryan flinches, and his heart drops when he sees Mark frown.

“Are you okay, man? You look like you’ve seen a ghost,” Mark says.

Ryan nods and smiles as convincingly as he can, but Mark’s expression doesn’t change.

“I’m okay. I promise,” he says, trying to hide how quivery his voice is.

Mark eventually backs off, and a part of Ryan wishes that Mark had pried a little further.

It’s not Ryan’s fault that he has a bit of a crush on Mark. If anyone’s to blame for that, it’s their PR crew and 

Mark’s genetics.

And, yeah, the Match Game thing  _ did  _ make them start hanging out more. Frankly, Ryan felt a little disconnected from the Avs, but after bonding with Mark, things got so much better.

Mark made him watch Star Wars, claiming it was a crime that Ryan had never seen them all. As a result, Ryan made references to the movies quite often, earning a bright smile from Mark every time. In return, Ryan had basically forced Mark to remember his full zodiac chart, and even began to teach him how to read tarot cards. Even though Mark didn’t  _ believe  _ in all of it, he still listened to Ryan intently, and it only made him fall harder.

Once they all head out to leave the ice, Mark steps beside Ryan and taps his shin guards with his stick, flashing him a small, gentle smile.

Ryan can’t help what feels like the flutter of bat wings in his chest.

//

He plays the game, and it goes surprisingly well.

The moment he hits the ice for warmups, it’s like his worries immediately melt away. The feel of the ice under his skates and a puck on his stick is comforting, at least for the time being.

And yeah, maybe the vampire part of his brain starts to go nuts when Z hits one of the Preds and gives him a bloody nose, but hey. Maybe that’s just a sign that Ryan’s due for his fill of blood sometime soon.

They end up winning, which feels so, so good-- even if it’s still near the beginning of the season-- so naturally the team goes out to celebrate.

Ryan gets a little more drunk than he should, and he subconsciously sticks close to Mark, who starts to sway into his side just as much in return. Ryan gets a little handsy but Mark doesn’t seem to mind, which is a good sign in Ryan’s eyes, even though he can barely think straight.

He eventually steps outside to sober up a bit; being in the moonlight tends to be almost recharging for vampires. Technically, Ryan’s supposed to be awake at night more often than in the daytime, but thanks to his career, that’s not exactly possible. He’ll take what moonlight he can get.

After soaking up the moon for a bit, Ryan feels better, and gets himself an Uber home after he makes sure that all his teammates have a safe way of getting home too. He almost falls asleep on the ride back, and he’s still a bit drunk, but what he sees when he gets back to his apartment is enough to jolt him awake.

A letter is stuck on his door with a wooden stake, the same rosary from earlier draped around it.

Ryan’s blood goes ice cold. He inches forward, sweat dripping down his back as he reads the note on his door.

_ “You didn’t like our gift from earlier? Wonder why. _

_ We know what you are, Graves. Watch your back. You’ll pay soon enough for being the abomination that you are. _

_ In the meantime, enjoy celebrating your win. It may be your last.” _

Ryan just about drops his keys as he pulls them out of his pocket, and it takes him a few tries to actually get the door to unlock. Once it’s open, he steps inside and hurriedly knocks the stake off and onto the floor with his elbow. He can worry about taking care of it later. For now, the last thing he wants is for one of his neighbors to see the note and start acting weird around him.

He locks the door and rushes to his room to change. At this point, his heart is racing impossibly fast, and his mouth feels dry.

Ryan’s brain races with so many different questions all at once as he strips out of his suit. Who could’ve found out?  _ How  _ did they find out? He’d taken as many precautions as possible. He’d lied and hidden and done everything to make sure he seemed like a human as much as he could, but… somehow, somewhere, he’d fucked up. He just wasn’t sure what he did.

After a quick shower, Ryan throws on some sweats and an old tee, and goes into his kitchen. He goes to one of the cupboards and reaches into the furthest corner of the top shelf, and pulls out a small locked black box with the number  _ 27 _ painted on top. 

He grabs his keyring and finds the little key that goes along with it, and unlocks it.

Inside are several glass vials filled with a thick, dark red liquid. Each is labelled with a date to be used by, as well as the contents inside.

Ryan picks one up that reads “Human Blood: caution, biohazard.” 

He closes and locks the box and returns it to its spot on the shelf before unscrewing the vial. Ryan’s never exactly like the taste of blood; it’s more metallic and bitter than he’d expected, but it gets the job done. He could easily just drink animal blood, but human blood tends to have a longer-lasting effect.

When Ryan first had to start buying blood, he was extremely skeptical about buying human blood, but after doing his research he found it was harvested in a surprisingly humane manner. More often than not, it was donated by humans who were “vampire allies.” Although, because of the low supply of human blood, it’s very expensive.

Good thing Ryan is a pro athlete.

So, he takes a deep breath, and within seconds his canine teeth have elongated and become much sharper, much deadlier than before. 

He tosses back the blood with a slight grimace, squeezing his eyes shut as he feels a surge of energy rush through him before turning into something more soothing. 

Ryan rinses out the vial and puts it in a small red biohazard bin that he keeps next to the box holding the other vials, and takes a deep breath to help ground himself. Ryan doesn’t think he’ll ever get used to how instantaneous the effects are.

To be fair, he doesn’t feel like he’ll ever get used to being a vampire.

By now, though, he’s at least accepted his fate.

Ryan heads back into his room to chill in his bed and read for a bit. It’s late, but he’s also just had a new fill of blood, and as a result it’s going to be hard for him to fall asleep at night. So, he gets as comfortable as he can and turns off the lights, enjoying the darkness as he reads. One of the downfalls of being a vampire with his career is all the bright lights, especially when he essentially has night vision. It can give him some pretty nasty headaches.

He gets about halfway through his book, an old mystery novel that he’s decided to reread, when he suddenly hears an odd noise coming from the front of his apartment. He sets his book down and stays completely still, practically holding his breath as he listens. 

Silence.

For a moment, Ryan thinks that he might have been hearing things, and he’s about to pick up his book when he hears it again. Heart beginning to race, he slowly gets up out of bed and creeps out of his room.

It’s silent again as he practically tiptoes down the hallway, until he both hears  _ and  _ sees the source of the noise.

The doorknob on his front door begins to rattle back and forth, followed by a few soft  _ thuds _ against the door.

Someone is trying to break into Ryan’s apartment.

Ryan freezes in shock. His fight or flight instincts are basically broken, and he doesn’t know what to do. He feels himself begin to panic, terror bubbling up inside of his stomach as he tries to calm down enough to think straight. 

Vampires are typically a bit stronger than the average human. Ryan would like to think that he’d be able to handle a regular human trying to break into his apartment, but with everything that’s been happening… he doubts that this is a normal human.

The thing about hunters is that they know exactly what to do to kill (or at least seriously injure) a vampire. It comes as naturally to them as breathing air. Because of this, Ryan knows better than to take his chances. 

So, he creeps back into his room, locks the door, and shakily picks up his phone. He could call the police, sure, but more often than not, they’re against vampires just as much as hunters due to having to deal with the occasional vampire attack.

Ryan calls Mark.

He doesn’t expect him to pick up, not when they were out getting drunk mere hours ago, but after a few rings, Ryan hears the sound of Mark’s groggy voice.

“Ryan? What’s up man, it’s-”

“Barbs, someone’s trying to get into my apartment,” Ryan stammers. “I know it’s late, I’m sorry I-”

“Whoa whoa whoa, hold on,” Mark cuts in, suddenly sounding very awake. “Did you call 911?”

Ryan takes a deep breath. “I can’t. I- Look, do you think you could drive over to my apartment building? And pull around to the side where my balcony is?”

Mark pauses a moment before replying slowly. “I can do that, yeah.” Ryan hears rustling through the phone, like Mark is getting out of bed. “But why can’t you call the cops?”

“I promise I’ll explain everything when you get here. Don’t come in, I’ll come to you. I’ve got a plan.”

“What? Ryan, if someone’s outside your door-”

“I’ll be okay, I promise. I’ll see you in a few, okay? I owe you one.” Ryan hangs up the phone and immediately puts it on silent.

He takes another breath, trying to calm his nerves, and opens his door. The doorknob on his front door is no longer moving, and he hears nothing but silence.

Still. Better to be safe than sorry.

Ryan goes back into his room and pulls out a duffle bag, fills it with clothes and toiletries, then rushes into the kitchen to grab the black box containing his blood vials. After double checking that he’s grabbed everything he needs, he checks his phone, finding a text from Mark that says, “ _ here now. u know what my car looks like”. _ Ryan opens the glass doors to the balcony of his apartment and steps outside.

Looking down, he feels his heart rise into his throat. He knows that thanks to being a vampire, there’s a very slim chance that he could hurt himself from jumping seven stories. Still, the human instincts inside of him cause him to be utterly terrified of heights.

On the flipside, though, Ryan definitely does not want to risk having a run-in with a hunter.

He closes the glass door and shoulders the duffle bag, taking a breath.

He runs and leaps over the railing of the balcony.

The impact when he hits the ground is a lot softer than he imagined, his legs absorbing the shock surprisingly well. He still feels the thrill of the fall, though, and he has to take a moment to compose himself. At the back of his mind, he really hopes that none of his neighbors saw him.

Ryan stands himself up, still a little wobbly, when he notices Mark. He’s standing outside of his car, wearing a hoodie and sweats, and his eyes are wide as he stares at Ryan. It almost seems like he’s frozen in place.

A gentle smile on his face, Ryan makes his way over to Mark’s car as Mark slowly snaps himself out of his trance.

“Gravy… Ryan… did you just-”

“Yeah,” Ryan sighs, a bit shakily. “I’ll-I’ll explain when we get back to your place, I promise.”

He tosses his bag in the backseat of Mark’s car, and then they make their way to Mark’s house.

The car ride is surprisingly calm, which Ryan honestly hadn’t been expecting. Mark asks Ryan if he’s okay, if he knows who could’ve been trying to break in and why.

“I know why they did it, but… I have no idea who it could be.”

They stay silent for a moment after that, but Ryan breaks the silence. He feels comfortable enough with Mark to open up to him.

“I’m really scared, Mark. I’m not gonna lie,” He says, barely above a whisper.

Mark takes a breath through his nose. “Well… whatever is going on, I’m with you, okay? That’s what friends are for.”

Ryan’s stomach suddenly feels like it’s in his throat.

_ Friends _ .

Of course.

//

Once they arrive to Mark’s house, Mark makes himself some coffee and offers some to Ryan, who politely declines.

“Come on dude, you’ve gotta be exhausted by now. Are you sure you don’t want me to make you a cup?” Mark asks with disbelief.

“I’m sure, yeah. Thanks though.” Ryan gives Mark a small smile, trying to remain as calm as he can. He’s never actually told anyone outside of his family about him being a vampire, and he’s not exactly sure how Mark will take it.

“So… I have… Kind of a big secret,” Ryan starts. “No one on the team knows. Not even coach or any of the trainers, but…” Ryan struggles to actually say the words out loud, and the worried look on Mark’s face isn’t exactly helping.

“I-I’m a vampire,” Ryan sputters out.

Mark’s face doesn’t change. Not for a moment, at least. Ryan watches as he cocks his head to the side, as if in thought, but Mark stays silent. It only makes Ryan feel worse.

“I… I understand if that freaks you out. I can find somewhere else to go, just-” Ryan begins to stammer nervously before Mark holds up a hand.

“I’ve-I’m sorry, it doesn’t freak me out, just. I’ve never met a vampire before. And… thinking about it, just. It makes too much sense.” Mark begins to smile, his eyes lighting up as much as they can despite being awake at such an ungodly hour.

Ryan breathes a sigh of relief and finds himself laughing softly across from Mark.

“So… you’re really not afraid?” Ryan asks, feeling somewhat small.

“Not unless you give me a reason I should be,” Mark replies with a shrug. “But… I have a few questions.”

Ryan definitely should have seen this coming. “Alright, alright. Let’s hear them.”

They continue to talk for the next few hours, having Ryan explain how being a vampire worked, how he gets his blood, how he stays healthy despite his career working against him, and they especially discuss the common stereotypes revolving around vampires. If Ryan’s honest, he doesn’t mind answering Mark’s questions. He’d never really gotten the chance to talk with anyone about being a vampire aside from his family and his doctor.

Then, of course, Mark asks how this all ties in with someone trying to break in to Ryan’s apartment.

Ryan explains the concept of Hunters, how they’re typical humans who are a bit more powerful than usual and have a real knack for kicking vampire ass. The further Ryan goes into detail, the more paranoid he becomes, and Mark must notice because in the middle of Ryan’s sentence, he stands up and checks that the front and back doors are locked, as well as the windows.

“So what you’re saying,” Mark says as he sits back down on the couch, this time much closer to Ryan, “is that someone found out about you and wants to kill you just because you’re a vampire?”

Ryan nods forlornly. 

“Huh,” Mark shrugs. “People really never change, I guess.”

“That’s no lie.”

“So uh… one last thing.” Despite being dead tired, Mark’s face suddenly looks a shade darker and he seems a bit more… shy.

“I forgot to ask. Are, uh…. Are the teeth-are they really a thing?” he asks, gesturing to his mouth.

As an answer, Ryan rolls his eyes and grins, extending his canines in the process to make sure that Mark sees them loud and clear.

And, if anyone asks, he definitely wasn’t trying to show off. Not a chance.

Though, even if he was… judging by the look on Mark’s face, it definitely worked.

//

Eventually, Mark heads to bed, and Ryan stays up for the rest of the night watching Netflix. By the time the sun begins to peek over the horizon, Ryan starts to nod off on the couch.

Mark wakes him up close to one in the afternoon, which honestly causes Ryan to panic slightly. He definitely did  _ not  _ plan to stay at Mark’s for so long, but Mark seems okay with it. He offers to make Ryan some food, (he then has to explain that since he had blood last night he won’t eat human food for a few days) and offers to let him stay if he feels that he’d be safer somewhere that isn’t his apartment.

Ryan really doesn’t want to impose, but… Mark seems so insistent, and Ryan really can’t help but give in to the stern look that Mark gives him when he says that he should be fine back in his apartment by himself.

So, Ryan stays.

//

It’s not like Ryan minds spending a few days at Mark’s house. If anything, he should be  _ thrilled  _ at the idea of staying with Mark, especially considering how much he’s pined over him.

But on the other hand… that’s also part of the problem.

Staying with Mark only makes Ryan fall  _ even harder. _ It doesn’t help that Mark is always asking Ryan questions, making sure he’s okay and comfortable and that he feels safe. It’s so much for Ryan’s cold-blooded heart to take in, and it  _ hurts _ . Ryan wants it to mean something, but he knows in his head that him an Mark are  _ just friends.  _ Nothing more. Hell, Ryan isn’t even sure that Mark is into dudes. Ryan’s come out to him as bi, and Mark was completely chill with it, but… Ryan wishes he knew so that he could hurry up and try to get over the fact that he would never be able to be with Mark like he wants.

So Ryan tries to hide himself. It only makes him feel worse about the whole situation, but he doesn’t see another alternative. If only his feelings for Mark would just  _ go away. _ He knows it’s not that easy, though.

Ryan thinks that hiding is a good idea at first. Well, not on his side of things, but on Mark’s, that way Mark can go about things as usual without having to worry about Ryan. 

But Mark doesn’t stop worrying.

Ryan isn’t sure how to feel anymore.

As the days pass, Mark’s mood gets worse and worse, and Ryan isn’t one hundred percent sure why, but he has a few guesses.

His big guess, of course, is that Mark is tired of him. Which, as much as it hurts to admit, Ryan can’t blame him. He hates when people overstay their welcome.

So Ryan decides to talk to Mark about it.

They’re walking out of practice together, talking offhandedly about being placed as a d-pair together again when Ryan decides to bring it up.

“Hey, I’ve been thinking… I’ve been at your place for like a week now, right? I should probably get out of your hair.”

He expects Mark to smile in relief, to joke about how it’s about  _ time, _ but no. Instead, Mark frowns, and gets the same look he has whenever Ryan reminds him about his aversion to garlic and holy water.

“Do you think you’ll be safe?” Mark asks sternly.

The fierceness of his voice makes Ryan hesitate.

“I’m… I can’t say for sure, but-”

“But what?”

“I don’t want to keep bothering you. You’ve seemed kinda down lately, and I get it, it-it’s your house, I shouldn’t be-”

“Ryan,” Mark interrupts. “If I was bothered by you being there, I would have said something. I’ve been upset because-” He stops himself, his eyes going wide as if he was about to say something that he shouldn’t.

Ryan furrows his eyebrows.

“Because…?”

Mark takes a breath and walks past Ryan, throwing his bag in the back of his car. “It’s nothing,” he says dejectedly. “I just- don’t think it’s a good idea for you to head back, but if you want to leave…” 

He seems more emotional about the whole ordeal than Ryan would’ve imagined. It makes something deep in Ryan’s chest flutter.

“Barbs, hey,” Ryan says gently, trying to get Mark to look at him. “You’re right. I’ll stay.” He smiles and bumps his and Mark’s shoulders.

Mark looks up at him, the sad look on his face slowly melting away, and offers Ryan a half smile. “I guess… we need to communicate a little better, huh.”

Ryan gives a breathy laugh, still a bit flustered. “Looks like it, yeah.”

Mark suddenly straightens and goes serious again, this time looking much less worried than before, but still a bit tense. “Ryan… there’s- there’s something I need to talk to you about, but… can we wait until we’re back at the house?”

The fluttery feeling in Ryan’s chest only becomes more intense, and he wishes he could stop it. It’s become a feeling he recognizes all too well; hope.

“Of course.”

//

The whole way back to Mark’s place, Ryan can’t help but feel like he’s holding his breath. He has no idea what Mark wants to talk about, but the hopeful feeling in his chest refuses to go away. He knows it’s probably not going to be what he wishes it was-it’ll most likely be about how Mark is freaked out by Ryan and wants him to stop telling him about how different kinds of blood tastes-but… he can’t calm down or let it go. It’s frustrating, and it makes the entire car ride unnecessarily uncomfortable for Ryan.

By the time they get back to Mark’s house, Ryan’s so tense he feels like he could explode, but Mark is acting exactly how he usually does. Ryan’s not sure if Mark even notices how nervous he is, but he’s honestly grateful for that. 

Curse Mark and his confidence.

It doesn’t take long for Ryan to learn what Mark wanted to talk about. In fact, it’s quite literally instantaneous, as the moment they walk through the door, Mark pushes Ryan back up against it. In most situations Ryan would find it to be incredibly hot (especially because Ryan’s fantasized about moments like this) but due to his nerves, he can’t help but be a bit freaked out at first.

“Please tell me if I’ve read things wrong, but…” Mark gazes into Ryan’s dark eyes with intent, and suddenly he’s leaning closer and closer, and Ryan feels his head start to spin and-

He closes his eyes, and suddenly he’s met with the feel of Mark’s lips on his own.

It’s an extraordinarily soft kiss, barely a brush of their lips, but it leaves Ryan absolutely breathless.

His eyes flutter open, and he stares at Mark blankly, still trying to process what just happened. Mark is looking up at him, an all too familiar look on his face-one of hope-as he searches for signs of emotion on Ryan’s face.

After a beat or two, Ryan smiles a soft little grin down at Mark, who suddenly beams up at Ryan in relief.

“You-you’re-I-” Mark stammers.

“I-yeah. Me too. Yes.” If Ryan could blush, he would be as red as a tomato, but instead he just feels that fluttery feeling in his chest far more intense than usual.

Mark practically collapses into Ryan’s arms with a breathy laugh, and Ryan embraces him with a fond grin.

“Maybe that wasn’t the best way to talk things out,” Mark mumbles into Ryan’s chest.

“Maybe not,” Ryan agrees, “but it worked.”

Mark pulls away and leans up to kiss Ryan on the cheek, causing him to smile bashfully.

Ryan may be a bit awkward when it comes to physical affection, but… he can definitely get used to this.

//

They do end up talking things out.

Mark confesses. Ryan confesses. They both sit and explain their feelings and it’s awkward and wonderful but it makes the both of them so  _ happy _ . Ryan finally knows that his hopeless thoughts were wrong, and that things really  _ could  _ go right for him sometimes, because vampire or not, Mark is totally into him.

It all leads to Mark asking Ryan out on a date, which, Ryan doesn’t hesitate to accept, of course, but he’s also a bit nervous. The past few dates he’s been on haven’t exactly gone well, and it’s all thanks to the whole vampire thing.

But Mark takes Ryan on a date, and it goes so, so well.

They hold hands in the movie theater and stand in each other’s space while they explore the Downtown Aquarium, which is probably the cheesiest thing they could do on a first date but Ryan doesn’t care, because Mark’s smile is so bright whenever he points out a goofy looking fish and maybe Ryan falls in love. Just a little bit.

And maybe Ryan falls asleep in Mark’s bed that night. They don’t do much of anything other than lie there and talk and laugh, fully clothed and simply enjoying one another’s company. It’s comfortable, and soft, and everything smells like Mark, and Ryan feels safe.

Ryan feels  _ safe _ . 

//

A few days later, Ryan works up the nerve to go back to his apartment, after going weeks without returning.

Mark insists on going as well, just in case  _ something  _ goes wrong.

Once they get there, Ryan simply switches out his clothes, checks to make sure everything is how he’d left it, and declares that he’s ready to leave not even half an hour later.

“Are… you sure you don’t want to stay?” Mark asks apprehensively.

“Yeah. I mean, if you’re still chill with having me at your place,” Ryan says, suddenly feeling a bit self conscious. It’s honestly a little embarrassing how much Ryan is starting to love being with Mark, but he can’t help it. He can’t ever help any of the feelings he has toward Mark. “And, we start a road trip tomorrow night. I just figured it’d be a little more convenient to stick with you rather than re-settle only to leave again?”

Mark stares at him for a moment, before a small smile shows up on his face. “Okay. Works for me,” he says, and Ryan detects a hint of relief in his voice.

Ryan makes sure to lean down and kiss Mark on his cheek on their way out.

//

Mark and Ryan have always been a bit close, sure, but now they’re  _ dating,  _ and the team seems to have caught on. Well, they at least picked up on how the two of them are closer. Much, much closer.

So, of course, they get chirped about it.

“Oh hey, looks like Team Edward and Team Jacob have joined forces,” Josty says with a grin. They’re in the locker room, having just finished practice in Nashville, and Mark is sitting in Ryan’s stall as he finishes pulling his gear off.

“Wait,” Ryan says, ignoring the obvious vampire joke. “Are you calling Barbs a werewolf?”

“I mean, it’s kinda obvious,” JT says from his spot next to Tyson. “He’s got the body hair for it. And he’s sexy.”

Josty’s head whips toward JT. “Are you implying that werewolves are sexy?”

JT just shrugs. Ryan can’t help but giggle at the two of them. He turns back to Mark, whose cheeks have gone a bit red.

“So, apparently you’re a sexy werewolf,” Ryan says as he slips out of his hockey pants.

“I’m chill with it,” Mark says casually. “Being compared to Jacob from Twilight isn’t the worst thing in the world.”   


“Oh my god,” Ryan gasps. “Don’t tell me you really were Team Jacob.”

Mark simply smiles up at Ryan.

“I feel betrayed. My own boyfriend, rooting against vampires,” Ryan says with a smirk before realizing what he’d just said. Him and Mark hadn’t exactly discussed labels, and the last thing Ryan wanted to do was overstep.

“I’m-I mean, I didn’t-sorry.” Ryan turns away, not looking at Mark’s face out of fear. He wishes he could disappear, or turn into a bat and fly away, or  _ something _ , because he’s just-

“And I can’t believe my own  _ boyfriend _ would think that I’m rooting against vampires,” Mark says from behind Ryan, his voice barely above a whisper. At first Ryan thinks he’s imagining things because of the chaos of the locker room, but when he turns around, Mark is smiling at him again, much more gentle and open than before.

Ryan opens his mouth to say something, but is cut off by Josty’s yelling again.

“Okay, okay. Hold the fuck up. Is there anyone else in this locker room who was on Team Jacob? Because if so, you’ve lost all my trust.”

The room then proceeds to become rampant with debate over who was the better love interest in  _ Twilight _ , and Ryan and Mark both get dragged into it whether they like it or not, and Ryan corrects his teammates whenever they stereotype vampires based off of  _ Twilight _ ’s awful caricature of them. The whole thing ends with Josty stealing one of Bednar’s whiteboards and tallying who was on what team.

Team Edward surprisingly wins by a landslide, and Josty runs around the room yelling “vampire rights!” which Ryan finds a bit endearing, especially because Josty has  _ no clue _ .

No one has a clue the entire time, and Ryan can’t decide whether he should laugh or be worried.

//

The game against the Preds is a rough one, to say the least. Mark is a healthy scratch, Ryan is placed on a d-pair with Cole, and the Preds’ forwards are on  _ fire.  _ They aren’t scoring (thank the hockey gods for Grubi) but they’re playing rougher than Ryan’s used to. 

Well, Ryan’s used to rough hockey. He’s a tall, third pairing d-man, so he’s faced with hard hits and chippy plays more than he’d like to admit. But that’s not what’s bothering him. It’s the fact that Nashville isn’t typically too hard on the Avs, but Ryan feels like he’s been given a run for his money despite his endurance being better than most.

It isn’t until there’s a breakaway, the Preds racing down towards the Avs end, that Ryan realizes what’s wrong.

Duchene is coming down the middle, Ryan skates backwards towards the net, Duchene gets the puck, Ryan drops to one leg to try and block it, and-

Duchene shoots the puck right at him.

There’s no other way of putting it. He didn’t miss the net and accidentally hit Ryan. He looked right at Ryan, fire in his eyes, and shot it right at him, aiming to injure.

The puck cracks Ryan across the jaw, sending him sprawling across the ice. 

It doesn’t knock Ryan out, but he wishes it did. It hurts, which isn’t a very familiar sensation for Ryan at this point, but taking a slapshot to the face up close would hurt just about anyone, immortal or not. His brain almost feels like it’s been thrown out of his body, and he tries to get up to no avail.

He squeezes his eyes shut, unable to bear the harsh arena lights anymore, and his sharp hearing picks up the sound of skates on the ice, the worried voices of his teammates, the music of the arena. His head hurts too much to make anything out clearly, until he senses someone skate right up next to him.

Ryan knows it isn’t one of his teammates by the pleased chuckle he hears.

“Got what you deserve, vamp. It’s a shame that I missed your mouth, though,” the voice says, and suddenly Ryan’s is filled with dread.

The next thing he hears is Landy telling the voice, “We don’t need you here. Back the fuck up,” and suddenly their trainer is right there.

Ryan takes a breath and slowly props himself up, but he can’t figure out what’s making things more difficult; his jaw that aches so badly he can barely think, or his limbs that are shaking horribly due to the fact that  _ someone in the league knows. _

With some help from Gabe and Joonas, Ryan is eventually back up on his feet, and he slowly opens his eyes, trying to readjust to the light before the trainer leads him off the ice and into the depths of the arena.

It’s odd, being a vampire, because after taking a few breaths, Ryan begins to feel better again. The headache he had is receding, and the pain in his jaw is starting to fade, although it is still very much there. Ryan’s never exactly had to deal with any major injuries while playing pro, so he has to come to a decision. Is he going to lie and pretend that he’s still hurt? Or is he going to come clean and confess to the training staff what he really is?

He thinks about how much of a pain in the ass it would be to fake an injury for a few days, and decides that, hey, he was going to have to tell them anyway.

//

The team’s staff takes it incredibly well.

_ All that diversity training really paid off, _ Ryan thinks as he’s left alone in the room. They had smiled and nodded, saying that it all made sense (god, maybe Ryan wasn’t being as down-low as he thought) and that they were glad he told them so that they could treat him properly. He downed some over-the-counter pain pills they’d given him, and promised he’d take his next fill of blood as soon as they got back to the hotel room.

Ryan strips out of the top half of his gear and leaves, heading down the hallway towards the locker room. He can hear the game as the third period starts to wind down.

Once he enters the locker room, chestguard and jersey in hand, Ryan is met with the sight of Mark sitting in his stall yet again, except this time he’s in his gameday suit. As soon as he realizes that Ryan’s walked into the room, he jumps up, eyes going wide.

“Ryan, oh my god, are you-”

“I’m okay,” Ryan says, meeting him in the middle of the room. The sight of Mark worried makes his chest ache. “A little sore, but I’ll be fine. I just-” Suddenly Ryan’s throat feels a little choked up when he remembers what had happened on the ice. “Mark, it was Duchene.”

Mark furrows his eyebrows and grabs Ryan’s free hand. “What about Duchene? I know he was the one who shot the puck, but-”

“Mark. It was  _ him _ .” Ryan sobs, tears suddenly flowing down his face. “He  _ knows _ . He did it on purpose, I can’t-” Ryan’s chest suddenly begins to heave as he cries, and his mind is racing so fast, because everything is clicking together.

The garlic. The rosary. The wooden stake and the note. Someone trying to break into his apartment. That all happened when the Predators were in town.

It was all Matt motherfucking Duchene.

“Whoa whoa whoa, hey, let’s sit down, okay?” Mark reaches up to stroke Ryan’s cheekbone before taking the gear out of his hands and leading Ryan back to his stall. 

They sit down and Ryan takes a few breaths, wiping at his eyes, trying desperately to calm down so that he can explain it all to Mark. “He was the one who tried to break in. He wrote that fucking note. It was  _ him. _ He’s a Hunter, Mark,  _ fuck _ ,” Ryan chokes out, unable to stop the sobs that wrack through his body. Mark guides Ryan towards him, holding him close and stroking Ryan’s back as he cries it all out.

“Fuck Duchene, okay?” Mark says softly. “If he even thinks about laying a finger on you, I’ll kill him. I’m here for you, okay? I won’t let anything happen to you. None of us will. You know that, right?”

Ryan nods into Mark’s shoulder. His breathing has slowed down a bit, the sound of Mark’s soft, deep voice calming him down.

He pulls away and wipes at his eyes again, turning to face away from Mark because  _ god  _ he probably looks like a mess. 

They sit like that for a few moments before Mark breaks the silence.

“Does Coach know?”

Ryan shakes his head. “No. I need to tell him, though.”

Mark takes a breath and moves to wrap an arm around Ryan’s waist. “How’s your jaw feel?”

Ryan moves it around a bit, grimacing at the slight twinge. “Still hurts a bit. I’m gonna feed when we get back to the hotel. It… should make the pain go away completely.”

Mark nods and stays quiet for a moment. “I’ve never seen you feed before. Is it…?” he trails off, but Ryan knows what he’s asking.

“No, it’s not messy or violent or anything like that. I don’t turn into a rampant monster either. You can… watch, I guess. If you want. It’s nothing exciting.” Ryan says. He turns away from Mark again. Sure, Mark is respectful and accepting of what Ryan is, but he still doesn’t want to cross any boundaries or freak Mark out.

“Okay. Blood doesn’t freak me out or anything, but if you’re okay with it.” 

Ryan hesitantly turns to face Mark again, and is met with a gentle smile. The fluttery feeling that Ryan’s begun to associate with Mark thrums in his chest, and he leans down to press a kiss to Mark’s lips with a watery smile.

He feels so, so grateful to have someone like Mark in his life.

//

They all get ready to head back to the hotel, hyped up from yet again another win on the road. 

Everyone is super worried about Ryan, but he reassures them that he’s going to be okay, and Mark helps to deflect when their teammates ask questions that are a little  _ too  _ prying.

On the bus back, Ryan holds Mark’s hand the entire time, and he keeps his face tilted towards the window, eyes closed, enjoying the nighttime darkness.

“Uh,” Mark coughs from next to Ryan. “Can I ask…?”

“Hm?” Ryan turns towards him blinking. “Oh. Yeah. Vampires can basically photosynthesize, but like… with the moon instead of the sun. It’s cool.”

Mark stares at Ryan, mouth hanging slightly open, but shrugs after a moment. “Alright. Cool.”

Ryan chuckles, a small soft thing, and Mark squeezes his hand with a smile on his face.

Once they’re back in the hotel, Ryan goes right for his box of vials, pulling out one containing human blood. Mark watches intently as Ryan’s canines slowly elongate, and out of the corner of Ryan’s eye, he swears he sees Mark shiver. Which. Interesting.

He tips his head back and downs it all in one go, squeezing his eyes shut as it courses through his body.

“Holy shit, Ryan,” Mark says, sounding somewhat breathless.

When Ryan opens his eyes to look at Mark, Mark’s eyes are hooded and he’s gazing at Ryan like he’s never seen anything more beautiful. 

“You’re just.” He moves towards Ryan, watching him closely, as if Ryan might disappear at any moment. “You’re… so incredible.”

“You think so?” Ryan asks with a grin, feeling a little shy at the sudden attention.

“I-yeah. You’re so gorgeous and unique, and just. I feel so lucky, you know.”

“I could say the same about you, Barbs.” Ryan says as he takes Mark’s hand into his own.

Mark’s reaches up with his free hand and runs his thumb along Ryan’s bottom lip, examining Ryan’s fangs, causing him to release shuddery breath without meaning to.

“Mark,” Ryan gasps. 

“Would it be weird to admit that I’m super into the vampire part of you? I know we talked about it, you know it’s not the  _ only  _ reason I’m into you, but-”

“It’s not weird.” Ryan says. “Honestly it’s kinda reassuring. I was-well. I was a little worried about scaring you off.”

Mark grins. “I don’t think that’s possible, honestly.”

They sit there, gazing into each other’s eyes, and Ryan honestly can’t get over how lucky he is to have such a beautiful man be in love with him.

“I really wanna kiss you right now,” Ryan purrs, voice low.

“I really want you to kiss me right now,” Mark replies with a laugh. “But uh, keep the fangs. You can’t turn me, right?”

“Nope,” Ryan says. “Vampire  _ blood _ is what makes you turn. It’s gotta be blood-on-blood contact, so. You’ll be fine if I keep my fangs out.”

“Cool,” Mark says, face lighting up.

The next thing Ryan knows, Mark is surging up and kissing Ryan, hard. He drags his tongue over Ryan’s bottom lip, and Ryan moans into the kiss. He slings his arms over Mark’s shoulders, mind going blank as he lets Mark deepen the kiss. Suddenly, he feels Mark’s tongue run over one of his fangs ever so lightly, and Ryan’s never had someone be so  _ into  _ his fangs, he can’t help but gasp against Mark’s mouth.

Mark moves his hand from Ryan’s waist to his chest, and he slowly drags his fingers along Ryan’s abdomen. Ryan’s brain practically short circuits, because  _ holy shit this is hot,  _ when suddenly-

The door handle starts shaking.

Ryan freezes.

Mark pulls away and frowns like he’s about to ask what’s wrong, when the handle suddenly shakes again, this time followed by a sharp thud and a grunt, like someone is kicking at the lock.

“Holy  _ fuck _ ,” Ryan says, and what the fuck is he supposed to  _ do. _ His body feels frozen in place, and his breathing starts to pick up, and-

Mark grabs Ryan’s phone, shoves it into his hand, and practically drags him into the bathroom.

“Stay here, okay? Lock the door, don’t come out.” Mark orders before shutting the door. 

Ryan takes a breath and shakily locks the door and turns off the light. He leans against the door to try and at least hear what Mark is doing.

“Who’s there?” Mark yells through the door to their room.

“Room service,” another voice says. It’s muffled, but Ryan would recognize it anywhere. At this point, that voice is probably burned into Ryan’s memory. “I’ve got an order for a wooden stake with extra garlic on the side.”

Ryan tries to clear his mind. He has to. Duchene is on the other side of that door, and he wants to kill Ryan, but he’ll kill Mark too. Hunters are never afraid to kill other humans if it means gaining access to a vampire.

He suddenly remembers what Mark had said to him.

_ “I won’t let anything happen to you. None of us will. You know that, right?” _

Ryan’s hands are shaky as he unlocks his phone. He opens up Gabe’s contact information, and hits call.

It takes three rings for him to pick up.

“Gravy? What’s up man, how’s the-”

“Gabe, it’s an emergency,” Ryan interrupts.

He hears a sound like Gabe has suddenly sat up in bed.

“What? What’s wrong?”

“Duchene’s outside of my room, and I-I think he wants to kill me, Gabe.”

In the background, Ryan hears another voice and the distant sound of Gabe pulling his phone away to talk to them.

“We’re on our way. Stay safe. We’ve got you,” Gabe says before hanging up. Ryan drops to the floor and breathes a sigh of relief. He can still hear the sound of Mark yelling through the door, trying to get Duchene to leave.

There’s suddenly a splintering crack of wood from the other side of the door, and Ryan’s heart drops.

Duchene got inside.

Ryan’s about to get up and open the door when he suddenly hears running from down the hall and a series of loud grunts.

“What the  _ fuck  _ do you think you’re doing, Duchene?” A familiar voice is shouting. “First you almost break his fucking jaw, and now you break into his hotel room with a fucking  _ axe _ ? What the hell is your problem?” 

“You don’t-agh! Jesus fuck, EJ, loosen up a little, will you? He’s a vampire for fuck’s sake!”

Ryan slumps against the door again, because, awesome. Now he’s going to have to explain everything to the team. Thanks for nothing, Duchene.

“That doesn’t mean you can just fucking  _ kill him _ !”

“Why not? He’s an abomination. He could hurt you. You should be thanking me, really-”

There’s a sharp thud and a crack that suspiciously sounds like bones breaking, followed by a pained groan.

“Mark, are you okay?”

“I’m okay. Just a little shaken.”

“Where’s Gravy?”

“He’s in the bathroom. I had him go in there and lock the door.”   


“Good call.”

Someone walks up to the door and knocks on it.

“Gravy, hey, it’s Gabe. You’re gonna be okay. Can you open the door?” Gabe says in a gentle voice.

Ryan shakily stands up and unlocks the door to see Gabe standing in front of him, a worried expression on his face. Behind him, Ryan can see EJ pinning Duchene to the floor. Duchene’s face is covered in blood and his nose is bent at an odd angle. Mark is sitting on one of the beds, trembling lightly, and the door looks like something out of  _ The Shining _ .

“Holy fuck,” Ryan murmurs.

“Hey, hey, it’s okay. Nate’s calling 911 right now. It’s gonna be okay. Let’s get you sitting down, alright?”

The police show up, and they take away Duchene. It’s a long night of talking to the officers and the hotel staff, and Ryan’s practically interrogated (which scares the shit out of him, considering most cops’ reputations with vampires) but it all turns out okay. Mark and Ryan get settled in a new room once the police leave, and by that time, almost the whole team is awake and worried and wanting to know exactly what happened. Bednar is the first to shoo them all away, wanting a word with Ryan before everyone else.

“So,” Bednar says, sitting in the room’s desk chair.

“So,” Ryan begins.

He runs through an explanation once again, one that he’s now become familiar with, and by the end of it, Coach has an understanding expression on his face.

“Ryan, you’re a team player, and an excellent defenseman. I like that about you. Human or not, you’re a member of this team, okay? I want you to remember that. What happened tonight won’t change things.”

Ryan nods, breathing a sigh of relief.

“Good. And, thank you for telling me. I know this probably wasn’t an ideal scenario, but still. I promise we’ll do everything we can to be accommodating.”

Bednar shakes his hand, slaps Mark on the back, and leaves.

Not even a moment later, Gabe and EJ are knocking on the door, followed by more than half the team, all of whom have worried, cautious expressions on their faces.

“We just wanted to check in on you guys,” Gabe says, uncharacteristically shy. “And, we wanted you to know, we support you no matter what, and-”

“I think I have some explaining to do. Again,” Ryan says, a small smile on his face.

He ushers everyone inside their room, and they all sit down on the floor and beds, wherever they can find room.

Mark sits down next to Ryan, intertwining their fingers in an attempt to comfort him.

“This isn’t exactly how I wanted to tell you guys, but… I’m a vampire. That’s why Duchene essentially tried to kill me today. Before you ask, no, I’m not gonna hurt you guys. I wouldn’t dream of it. The last thing I want is to hurt one of you or make you feel uncomfortable, which is why I’ve been so down-low about the whole thing. I’m happy to answer questions, but just. Use your common sense, for the love of god.”

So of course, Ryan answers some of the team’s stupid questions. He doesn’t mind. If anything, he’s happy about how enthusiastic the team is. It’s not the reaction he’d expected, but he’d take this enthusiasm over rejection any day.

“Oh, and one more thing,” Mark says before they all leave. “Edward is dating Jacob.”

It takes them all a moment to decipher exactly what Barbs means by that, when Josty suddenly bursts into laughter.

“Dude, oh my god. We  _ know _ , okay. You’ve been so obvious. It’s adorable.”

Ryan can’t help but laugh when JT suddenly elbows Josty in the side.

Slowly, the team trickles out of the room, hugging Ryan and murmuring words of acceptance into his ear, and by the time they’re all gone, Ryan feels so happy he could cry.

“It’s been… such a night,” he says, flopping down next to Mark in bed.

“It really has,” Mark says, turning off his phone and shifting to face Ryan. “I’m so sorry that all had to happen. You doing okay now?”   


Ryan breathes deeply through his nose. “I think so. My jaw feels better. I can live knowing that my teammates don’t hate me. And… I’m with you.” He reaches up to stroke Mark’s face, running a thumb along his cheekbone. “After such a hectic night, lying here with you is like heaven.”

“I’m glad,” Mark whispers, leaning in to kiss Ryan gently.

They fall asleep tangled in each other’s arms, and it’s surprisingly some of the best sleep Ryan’s had in a long, long time.

//

“One, two, three assists for Count Graves tonight! Ha-ha-ha,” Josty drones, mimicking the vampire from  _ Sesame Street  _ as he nudges Ryan’s knee with his own _ . _

“Oh my god,  _ please _ shut up,” Ryan says, shoving at Josty from his spot on the bench.

“Okay, you’ve gotta admit, that was pretty clever,” Mark says from Ryan’s other side.

“Oh come on, you’re supposed to be on  _ my side _ .”

Mark just shrugs and turns to watch the ice. Ryan feels that warm flutter in his chest, and he pats Mark’s leg affectionately.

Ever since Ryan’s told the team, he’s felt much more relaxed than he used to be. He can be himself. He doesn’t need to hide, and it’s felt so, so good.

He had hoped that it would stop the jokes, but if anything, it only caused them to multiply. He didn’t mind, though. The team was starting to get pretty creative, and at this point, he knows it’s all in good nature.

So as he sits on the bench, staring up at the jumbo-tron watching himself set up another beauty of a goal, he smiles, thankful that the universe was kind enough to land him somewhere where he doesn’t have to worry, where he knows he’ll always be accepted and protected, and where he can thrive and play the best hockey he can play alongside the teammates he loves.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! Comments and kudos are much appreciated.
> 
> Find me on tumblr @trans-parayko or on twitter @GreatSaveGrubi where I yell about the Avs all day everyday!


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